Sister Dear
by Supernatural Crossover Girl
Summary: They were her family. She would not lose them, not like she lost her brother. She would protect them until her dying day, because that was what sisters did.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: **Sister Dear

**Summery: **They were her family. She would not lose them, not like she lost her brother. She would protect them until her dying day, because that was what sisters did.

* * *

Mariana was cold, though that was common now she was in New York, the disgusting place it was. She rubbed her arms as she struggled through the streets, looking around. She missed her home, but she had to be here. Her brother put her on the boat, promising her that he would meet her at the Eagles and Prey statue in Central Park. She had to be there.

It was just so cold though. Brazil never was this cold. She shivered and pulled on her frayed sweater as she stumbled around, looking for an easy mark. She had to go to the statue on April eleventh- her birthday, but till then she had to survive.

Mariana was not unaware of the gazes on her- some of worry. The tiny seven year old was dressed in a sweater to large, with a woolen skirt patched sloppily. Her long dark hair was in tangles, the curls wild from the strange air. Her shoes were mismatched on her feet, one red and one black. She was use to the looks, but right then, she was focused on her target, a tall man with his wallet half in his pocket. She tripped into him, and when he turned to yell, she fake panicked, stuttering in Portuguese before running, his wallet in hand.

Mariana smirked as she ran away, playing the confused tourist was perfect, though she knew she didn't look like one. Of course, she did hear the swearing and the chasing feet. She took a moment to look behind, only to curse. Apparently she picked a gang member, who gained followers who chased her through the streets. She was usually better at this, able to pick out who was who.

She continued her run, spotting a manhole that was open. A truck was nearby it, she noticed but no one was around it- obviously off getting food or something.

She moved fast, running and grabbing the ladder, slipping down, and continuing her run. She heard yelling from behind, and she kept up her run, until she figured she was in a safer area. She leaned against the wall, ignoring the smell- she was far to use to this. She'd never had the same skill as her brother.

"Achoo!" she sneezed, letting out a puff of air. She cursed, shivering. It was ten degrees out, winter temperature for her. She'd have to spend some money on a coat while waiting for her brother… or find a shelter, but she didn't want to end up in an orphanage again. She hated St. Agatha's, the stupid Catholic Orphanage she'd been shoved in until she found her brother again.

A noise startled her and she stood from her position. Her hand dropped to the pocket knife she carried, and she eyed where the noise came from. It was an open tunnel, and she moved quietly towards it, wondering if it was nothing.

It wasn't. In fact, it was a...

"_Tartaruga_?" she asked, tilting her head at it. But it was big- as big as a child. It actually looked frightened, taking a step back, only to slip and fall, hurting it's knee.

"Waaa!" it began to cry, and Mariana took a step back, eyes wide.

What was going on?

"Daddy!" it spoke, and she jumped. A talking turtle… okay, America was very weird. She wanted to go home now. "Daddy!" it… no, he cried some more, and she felt a glimmer of pity. It was just a child. Or at least she thought so.

She couldn't leave a child to cry, not when it was obviously upset and not faking it to make her a mark. She didn't think it was anyway.

"Calm down." She told him, holding her hands up and stumbling through the English. "I… no harm?" she frowned to herself. That didn't sound right.

"Huh?" the turtle asked, and she knelt down, making sure the knife was hidden.

"I… not harm… you?" she frowned once more, that sounded better, but still weird.

"Why are you talking like that?" asked the child, looking at her, suddenly in her face. "Are you an alien?!" She blinked, staring. From his voice he sounded like a boy, but kids tended to sound similar… she was going to call him a him for now.

"… I understand little English." She said, blinking at him. "I am from Brazil." He blinked, before smiling and offering his hand.

"I'm Mikey!" she stared at the three fingered hand, before she hesitantly shook it. She was right on then… unless it was some nickname for Michelle or something.

"Mariana." She introduced herself, as more noise came.

"Michelangelo!" she blinked, as the boy tried to get up, looking startled.

"Daddy!" she watched as he moved away, only to stop, looking back at her. "…Where will you go?" Mariana blinked, and shrugged.

"I will find empty tunnel." She figured if a giant turtle and more could remain undetected, she should be able to. She turned to leave, knowing the father would not trust her. If he was like his son, he had reason to.

"Bye Mary!" Mikey called after her, and she turned in shock, but only saw him running away.

…Mary? Seriously?

-0-

Her new home was an abandoned subway car she found by accident. The seats were still there so she had a bed at the least. She made sure to keep track of the days as she went through her new life, slinking up to the surface to steal and buy food and clothing. She never bought new things, not liking the feel. Broken in clothing was the best.

Tattered sweaters, torn leggings, ripped skirts mended with care, those where her favorite clothes. Sure, they didn't look as nice, but she knew that her money would do better going to a place that sold second hand rather than a new place- second hand stores were often charities. Her only accessory was a heavy metal locket around her neck containing two hand drawn photos and a lock of hair.

It wasn't hard to move from surface to the sewers. She figured out the trick to popping the manhole covers and could do it fairly easily. It saved her life when her cons were discovered. She was faster than any overweight tourist, and could escape down a manhole fast leaving them wondering where she was.

Mariana wasn't sure why, but she would detour by the tunnel she met Mikey in sometimes. Maybe it was because he just trusted her right away- maybe it was because he was a kid. She didn't know.

It was about two weeks after she first met him she ran into him again.

"Mary!" he cried upon spotting her, jumping up in joy. "I thought I would see you again!"

"It's Mariana." She told him, frowning as he just waved his hand. He had a new addition to himself, an orange mask around his eyes. "What is…" she frowned and motioned to the mask. She didn't know the word for it in English.

"Oh! It's my ninja mask! Dad- I mean, Master Splinter is teaching us to be ninja!"

"Us?" Mariana asked, tilting her head. Ninja… that was Japanese, so was Mikey Japanese? But his name was… Michelangelo, right? That was Italian.

"Me and my brothers!" he looked excited, jumping around and talking to fast for her to translate.

"Mikey! Slow…down." Mariana waved her hands, trying to get him to slow down. "I don't… understand?" He stopped, and then blushed- a bright green blush. It was adorable, and Mariana had to control her impulse to coo.

"I forgot." He admitted. She nodded, then tilted her head.

"You name… Michelangelo?" She asked, and he grinned wildly.

"Yeah, but I like Mikey." He said, and she made a note to call him that. "So… where you from Mary?"

"I call you Michelangelo if you call me Mary." She warned him, before she shrugged. "Brazil."

"Cool! Why did you come to New York?"

"My brother say he come, so I wait." She told the turtle. Soon, they dissolved into a conversation about brothers, until Mikey left for his family and Mariana left for her own home. She felt a spark of joy in her chest she did not often feel.

Life went on, the two often meeting secretly. Mikey began to learn Portuguese and Mariana learned English from the orange masked turtle. It had been a month since they met, and the air turned colder each day as the days turned to December. Mariana felt the cold settle in with dread.

Snow began to haunt the streets where she stole and ran small cons- it was something she wasn't use to and she began to fall behind. People put their wallets closer to their bodies, they were less likely to slow down and she had to buy a warmer coat that ate into her money. She turned to shoplifting to get by, and hated it. It was one thing to con rich folk, but shops were just trying to get by. Unless it was a rich store, but then those stores were annoying to because she couldn't eat that food without getting sick.

She hated America, it was ridiculous.

"It is cold." Moaned Mariana to Mikey one day, bundled up in a coat and sweater over a woolen skit and leggings. Mikey nodded, similarly bundled up. "I miss Brazil."

"Yeah, it was way warmer, right?"

"Yes." Mariana said, nodding. The two friends shivered for a while before they split, Mariana heading back to her subway car home, where she had a small heater working. Not much, just enough to stay warm.

She had really went to town on the car. She had ripped off all the seat cushions and littered them on the floor in the middle, combined with her clothing as a bed. She had her food- cans and bread along with a jar of jam- up away from her heater and she'd found a drawing pad in the garbage she happily used from time to time.

Mariana curled up in the pile, and shivered as the cold settled in once more. It was so cold, this weather. She wasn't use to it, and it felt like a cloak draping over her.

-0-

Mikey, despite common belief, wasn't stupid. Yeah, he would admit he wasn't smart, but he wasn't stupid. Just because he didn't get what his siblings said all the time didn't mean he didn't understand what they meant. He was good with getting his brothers despite not understanding them sometimes.

He also knew Mariana was really lonely, even though she hid it. It must be hard, being all alone in a strange country. He sort of understood, but at the same time he didn't. Mariana was alone even when she was among the humans, just because she spoke differently. She was getting better, but she still had trouble with English. She also was what she called a street kid. He didn't get it much, but he did get she did Bad Things to get by. He wasn't sure what Bad Things they were, but they were Bad Things.

Mikey didn't get why humans were so focused on… levels? He wasn't sure, but he knew that some people thought Mariana was dirt because she spoke different and lived on the streets because she had no place to go, despite the fact she was awesome. She listened to him, and taught him like he taught her. She did Bad Things but she wasn't a Bad Person. Yeah, she was scary a little, like when he didn't call her Mariana and she just stared at him, and said Michelangelo in that really creepy way, but she was really cool, she wasn't bad! Humans thought she was though, but thought that others were good, but they weren't!

Humans were weird.

Mikey didn't get why Mariana lived in the sewers like them either- he understood she didn't have a home, but she was human, not like them. He didn't mind too much though, Mariana was awesome, and fun! He liked playing with her more than he did his brothers sometimes, which was why he didn't tell anyone- Mariana was to cool, they would all want to play with her!

He was fifty percent sure Splinter knew about Mariana though. He let the four out to play in the tunnels close to the lair, but he did keep a close eye on them, he wouldn't be surprised to find out he did know.

When Mariana came to their tunnel one day, Mikey was worried. She was shivering, and her nose looked really raw, with some snot coming out. And she was sweating, despite shivering.

"Mariana… are you okay?"

"I'm… I'm f-f-fine." She shivered even more and seemed to draw into herself. "I'm just… cold." She stumbled and fell, shivering even more.

"Mariana!" he dropped down to touch her shoulders and she looked up, blinking slowly before she tumbled forward.

"Mariana!"

* * *

Okay, so here is the first chapter! I've always been a fan of TMNT, and recently, I thought 'screw it'. So, here it is!

I wanted to write a sister fic for the turtles, but I wanted her to be older, so Mariana is about eight here, while the turtles are almost six, so she's around two years older. Everyone write sisters as younger, the idea Mariana would be older just made me grin.

Mikey is really hard to write to… seriously, I'm just trying to write him and it's hard because he's a smart kid, but not in the general way. He's good with people, just not with books. So I tried to show that, and I hope I did okay.

Mariana does tend to talk in Portuguese a lot, so I will show that, but unless it's just one word, it will only be italicized. I don't speak Portuguese so I need to use a translator, and that's never right.

That being said, _Tartaruga _means turtle.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: **Sister Dear

**Summery: **They were her family. She would not lose them, not like she lost her brother. She would protect them until her dying day, because that was what sisters did.

* * *

Waking up to find herself in a place she didn't know wasn't to much of a surprise. She did often fall asleep in random places to find herself in a shelter or in someone's home. It was just a shock to see Mikey.

"Mariana!" he jumped on her, hugging her tightly. "You're okay!"

"Mikey." She said. "Where am I?"

"I believe I can answer that." Another voice said, and she looked up to see a tall man dressed in a robe. Mikey had told her that his father wasn't human, but he didn't tell her he was a rat, which was obvious as soon as she saw him. A part of her flinched, remembering how rats would bite her if given a chance.

"_Senhor_." She said, nodding to him.

"You were sick from spending so much time in the cold." The rat man said- Splinter she thought he was named. "I highly doubt Brazil had this temperature." He handed her a glass of water which she greedily drank from before answering.

"It very warmer." Agreed Mariana. Mikey tapped her shoulder, and she looked towards him.

"It was much warmer." He said, and Mariana sighed. English was so hard, and ridiculous. The sayings were weird, and some of the words made no sense!

"Thank you." She told Mikey. Splinter watched them closely, before he smiled.

"You were asleep for three days, fighting off your fever." He told the girl, who frowned.

"What day is it?"

"December eighth." Mariana nodded, before she sneezed.

"Are you okay Mary?" she scowled, and flicked Mikey in the head.

"Michelangelo!" He pouted at her and she glared back before sneezing again. Splinter reached out to push her down, pulling the blanket over her. He took away her glass as her told her calmly,

"Sleep, your sickness will fade with time."

"_Obrigado." _Muttered Mariana as she fell back into sleep.

-0-

Splinter had been shocked when his youngest revealed that the reason he often went to the west tunnel was because of a human friend. He had known something was up, but to know Michelangelo had a human friend…

He had been furious, but understanding. Mariana hadn't spoken about what she knew, and she was alone. He felt for the child, upon seeing her tiny home. Michelangelo had followed her back to it, and showed him where it was so they could get her some more clothes. He was also aware of the many things children could be driven to for survival. He hoped she did not have to go down a terrible route. However, Michelangelo was still wrong to have hid her from them. She could have been dangerous to them.

"Is she okay Sensei?" asked Leonardo upon seeing him, standing up along with Donatello. Raphael was furious Mikey had brought home a human, and refused to look anywhere near where she was.

"Mariana has awoken briefly. I believe she is just simply very sick and needs to sleep it off." Splinter told them as Michelangelo came out or the dojo where they had placed Mariana. "As Michelangelo said, she is not use to the cold and being in it for so long made her sick."

"Yeah, she's from Brazil where it's all warm!" Michelangelo jumped around, a huge grin on his face. "She use to live in Rio de Janeiro! She sometimes just calls it Rio though! She says it was amazing and warm! She and her brother use to run around the city and play games or they would explore this jungle they had inside the city! Or that they would go and watch Carnival! She and her brother loved the celebration!" Splinter believed she enjoyed it more for the pickpocketing opportunities then the celebration, but he let Michelangelo speak about Mariana, excited.

"It's still stupid, having her here!" Raphael interrupted Mikey's talk, glaring. "She's gonna tell!"

"No she won't! She's a good person!" Michelangelo said, frowning, as Splinter stood back and watched. He was curious about what his sons would do.

"Mikey's been talking with her for a while- if she wanted to, she would have told sooner." Donatello said, frowning. Raphael just scowled, as Leonardo cast looks at the dojo.

"Mariana has no one to turn to! Her brother put her on a ship here, and she's waiting for him, but even then she wouldn't tell him, she's not a Bad Person!"

"Like you would know, you've never been around humans!"

"You haven't either Raph." Donnie pointed out, and Leo spoke up his own belief;

"We did save her, she should have some honor, and not tell. But Mikey should have told us sooner about her." The three brothers looked at the youngest, who looked sheepish.

"Michelangelo will be punished for not telling me of this sooner." Splinter told them, and Michelangelo winced, obviously having hoped Splinter wouldn't punish him. "I believe Miss Mariana will be no threat." She didn't feel like one, but she also felt dangerous, like a snake. She would only attack if provoked, but one must still be cautious.

-0-

Mariana woke up again to find a purple masked turtle putting a jug of water beside her.

_"Olá?" _she asked out loud, making him jump. She frowned, and repeated, this time in English, "Hello?"

"Oh, you're awake! Hi, I'm Donatello, but you can call me Donnie… or Don. Are you thirsty, you look thirsty, or are you hungry? I can-" Mariana lost track after that, blinking as he rambled on and on. He was a little like Mikey, rambling when nervous.

"I… I am thirsty." She agreed, sitting up, and wincing. Donnie helped her up and grabbed a glass which she drank out of with gusto, thirsty and exhausted all rolled into one.

"Thank you." She said.

"So… you're from Brazil?"

"Yes." Said Mariana, nodding. "I came here in… October?" she frowned, trying to think. Had it been then? It felt like she'd been in America for much longer.

"Cool! That's uh… cool." An awkward silence filled the air. Mariana shifted before she noticed Mikey bounce in.

"Mariana!" he said, grinning upon seeing her. "I see you met my bro!"

"Yes, I have." She stated, looking around the strange room. It was pretty bare, except for a large amount of weapons on the wall. "Is this… uh… room for…" she frowned, trying to think of the word. "Train room?"

"It's called a dojo, and we train here, yeah." Said Mikey, sitting down.

"Dojo? That is… Japanese, yes?"

"Yeah, it is!" Mikey looked eager as he leaned forward. "What's training in Portuguese?"

_ "Treinamento." _Mariana said, as the door opened letting in Splinter who was holding a tray.

"I hope you do not mind, but I had to use the food from your home as we do not have human food here."

"I don't mind, no." Mariana said as a tray of food was set on her lap. A can of peaches, some toast and an apple sat on the tray. "Thank you." She said, bowing her head, before she dug in, savoring each bite. She paid no attention to the others until she finished, by that time Donnie and Mikey had left, leaving her with Splinter.

"Mariana… how do you afford food and clothing?" Splinter asked. Mariana looked him in the eyes. She didn't tell Mikey what she did because he wouldn't… okay, he would get it, but it felt wrong to tell him, so she didn't. He wouldn't understand why she did it, he was too trusting, to naive. Splinter though… she saw in his eyes that he understood. He knew how far someone might go to protect themselves, to survive.

"Pickpocket. Easy to con people." She shrugged. "I fight. Little girls don't seem to be tough." She didn't mention often it wasn't willing, but sometimes she had a choice to go hungry or to join a street fight. She often chose a street fight. Splinter nodded, feeling relived this child had not had to go to far, but he still felt the pain she had to.

He had to pickpocket as a child for training, and while he did believe it taught him a lot, he did not want any child driven to do something like that out of desperation.

"I see Mariana." He stood. "I will allow my son to continue to see you as a friend, and offer you a chance to stay here for the winter- your home is suited for the spring, but not for the winter." Mariana blinked, but agreed eagerly.

"_Obrigado. _I mean… thank you." Splinter chuckled.

"Do not worry, I myself went through a period of time where I was learning English. I still find it an odd language" Mariana chuckled a bit.

"It's all the… sayings? Like 'on the ball' what do they mean?"

"Or walking on egg shells." Agreed Splinter, and the two began to talk about the various sayings they heard before Mariana once more fell asleep.

-0-

Mariana settled in fairly fast. They had an empty room they used for her, which she enjoyed. In return she would give them human food, which Splinter accepted gracefully, especially when she got him his favorite tea. He didn't ask, she didn't say how she got it. But both of them knew, and it was a comfortable understanding between them.

She and Mikey were still very close, still both learning languages. Splinter often joined in, remembering his own lessons and could smooth over some of the rougher English words. The others often listened in as well to her lessons, offering their own support.

"How many languages do you know?" Leo asked her one day. Leo was very cautious around her, but curious. He was like many a street child she had met before, until the true nature of their lives caught up to them.

"I know Portuguese and English best." Said Mariana, thinking as they sat in front of the TV which had some show going no one was watching. "I know more Italian then German, I understand more Spanish then I speak it but that's it."

"Why do you know so much?" Donnie asked her.

"They were the most common on the streets." She shrugged. "I had to survive." They both wished to learn after that, and she did teach them.

Mikey turned out to be the best at languages, picking up Portuguese fairly fast. Leo was next, while Donnie had a hard time. He was good with machines and science, not language.

Raphael stayed out of it, but she did know he listened in. In a way, Raphael was the one most like her. He was much more aware of the world in a way. Mikey looked upon the world like a child. Leo was cautious, but his curiosity towards the world made him less wary, while Donnie looked at everything like a scientist, as if everything had a logical answer. Raphael knew the world was dangerous- she often found him watching TV shows or reading books that demonstrating it. He was the one most cautious about her, and she approved.

She understood, she was a stranger to them, and for her to suddenly appear out of nowhere must be hard for the boy to accept. She was different than them, she had no stake here. She would also admit, to herself, that if Mikey hadn't saved her, revealing their location would be appealing if she was offered enough. But they had saved her, and she would take their secret to the grave.

Raphael only began to warm up to her one day when he found her coming home late from a day of cons, with a black eye, split lip and bloody knuckles. She was cleaning herself up when he saw her.

"What happened?" he asked her, eyeing her knuckles as she bandaged them.

Silence filled the air as she looked at him, studying him, and then she nodded, once.

"I was caught pickpocketing the wrong person." She admitted to him. "To keep the money, I had to fight." She nodded to the two twenties and a handful of change she had gotten. It wasn't much, but it was enough for some food.

"…Why are you keeping our secret?" he asked her, looking at her. She looked right back.

"Because you saved my life." Nothing more was said, but an understanding was reached. It would take much longer for him to trust her, but she felt as if it would be worth the wait.

After that, she was more welcome among the turtles- it was like they'd just been waiting for Raph's okay for her to be welcome. Leo would pull her down to watch shows, while Donnie began showing her weird science things. Mikey had always been okay with her, but now he acted like a jealous child, hogging her attention when he could.

"_Riso." _Mariana pronounced, smiling as Mikey repeated right after. "Good job! Soon you'll be speaking _português _like a native!"

"You're doing great with your English to Mariana!" Mikey said, grinning like a loon.

"_Obrigado!" _she said.

"That's thanks, right?" Mikey asked, and Mariana nodded in agreement, before Donnie called her over to look at his new invention.

When it began warming up, Splinter asked if she wished to stay fully. He had grown fond of the girl, with her serious manner and attitude. She took a moment to think, as she looked through her clothes, putting aside the more tattered options to rip up and make into patches.

She liked them, she didn't trust them, though she knew that there was nowhere for them to report her, but she really did like them. She liked sparring with them, she liked watching TV with Leo and Raph. She liked teaching them Portuguese and being taught how to read by Splinter.

She thought of her empty home, of being cold, of being alone. She thought of having to treat her own wounds when needed. She thought of how Splinter or Raph would patch her up when she came back from a con that went wrong. She thought of Mikey and his joy at her living with them.

"Until my brother comes." She said, finally. And she settled into stay.

She still went up to the surface, and she was still very careful, but now she had people to come home to.

And she had people to go to when her brother didn't show up at the statue on April eleventh.

She came back to the lair after nightfall, and dropped onto the couch. She didn't move as the turtles looked at her. Mikey was the first to move, hugging her as she stared ahead.

"He didn't come." She said, softly. "He… will one day, I know it. He's going to come."

"You will always have a place here while you wait." Splinter told her, standing in the kitchen. Mariana nodded, as the others came forward. She hesitantly patted onto Mikey's arm, and leaned away a bit.

"Thank you."

"You're family now Mariana!" Mikey told her smiling, and she jerked back, staring, before she looked around. The others didn't seem to mind him calling her family, and she smiled at them, feeling tears prick her eyes.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

* * *

Why did I pick Rio as Mariana's home city? I picked it because a) it's Brazil's number one tourist attraction. Mariana would make a pretty penny pulling cons and pickpocketing there. B) Rio is partners with New York, so I figured it would be easy to have a boat going there from Rio. It's also a beautiful city.

Mariana knows so many languages because they're the most common languages in Brazil. Portuguese is the official language, but German and Italian are common to- German more than Italian. Spanish she also knows because Spain did colonize parts of Brazil. She just generally understands more than she speaks. Italian and Spanish as well are similar enough to Portuguese that it's easier for her to pick up. English was a necessity after moving to New York and so she could con tourists in Rio as well. She is only really fluent in Portuguese and English.

I also wanted to show a head canon I have. Splinter was most likely raised in a more violent way then the turtles are from what we've seen of his past. He mentions he and Shredder where raised as brothers, and I have a feeling he blames how they were raised for what Shredder became slightly. So he raises the turtles differently, but he understands the need Mariana has.

Since I think there was only one word no one would catch, _Riso _means laughter.


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: **Sister Dear

**Summery: **They were her family. She would not lose them, not like she lost her brother. She would protect them until her dying day, because that was what sisters did.

* * *

A teenager stood in the subway station, dressed in a dark baggy sweater. She had on a pleated skirt and leggings tucked into a pair of soft boots. Her clothing was old and worn, yet still in good shape. Her eyes were closed as she played, her case open at her feet.

Everyone knew that Violin Girl was pretty much a staple in the station, and often requests would be thrown out to her. She would do so, and her money would grow.

As she finished her song, people tossed money into her case, as a car pulled up, and they began to leave. Mariana sighed, and cracked her knuckles. She'd been playing for a long time it seemed. She gathered the cash and put it into her pockets, beginning to put away her violin.

"Awright hipster, duin fur some fin?" Mariana looked up to see a tall girl, dressed in a pair of skinny jeans, dark jacket and knee high boots. She chewed gum, her spikey hair striped with purple.

"Angel, you do know you sound ridiculous when you talk like that, right?"

"Tis mah accent hipster. Ah dinnae expect ye tae git it." Angel grinned, and Mariana rolled her eyes.

"Given you're purposely thickening it…" Angel laughed, thumping her friend on the back.

"Yeah, ah git it. Ah'll stop." She dragged Mariana onto the train, and the two leaned against one another as they held onto the poles.

Mariana had run into Angel by accident, while running from some gang called the Purple Dragons. Angel had yanked Mariana into a shop, and hid with her for hours. The two had stuck together ever since.

"So, what we doin'? Ah git ta study later." Angel said, digging in her pockets and finding her cigarettes. "Ah'm almost out." She complained to herself.

"I've got enough money to buy that tea set, and a cake for tonight." Mariana said, smiling. "But we can run around for a bit."

"Gud ah need ta smoke." They got off on the next station, and Angel waited to be out before she lit up. "Want one?"

"No, I've got sparring with my brothers later. They'd probably smell it on my breath." Angel shrugged. She never met them, Mariana didn't talk about them much, but she knew that the dad was a martial artist and trained them all.

The two girls walked around, Mariana stopping to buy the tea set she'd been talking about, a beautiful Japanese set with the pattern of sea turtles on the pot.

"Ya should buy pizza fur them." Angel told her friend, lighting up another cigarette. Mariana made a face.

"Ick."

"Ah don't git how ya can hate it." Angel said, laughing as they passed by a bakery and Mariana took a moment to look at the cakes in the window. "They're expensive."

"I'm just looking. I'm buying the cake at the supermarket." Mariana pointed out. "Ooh! Thift store!" she pointed at the bulding, and the two entered it after Angel finished her cigarrette. They prowled the aisles, looking until Mariana held up a red plaid jacket with a grey hood attached.

"That is awesome. Git it!" Angel decreed. Mariana laughed, but did buy it, putting it on as they continued their walk. "Eh, what time is it?" Mariana pulled out her phone to check, only to yelp a curse in Portuguese.

"I need to get that cake and go!" She took off down the street, pausing to wave goodbye to Angel, who cackled and waved back, before the purple haired girl went home herself.

Mariana bought a nice chocolate cake as soon as she got to the store, before she took off down an alley.

Mariana ran to a manhole and pulled the lid, slipping down into the sewers, taking off down the tunnel. She made it home pretty fast, setting her case down on the kitchen counter along with her shopping bags and heading to the dojo.

"Sorry!" she said, coming in, and ducking a bo staff half. She blinked, seeing Leo and Raph face off.

"Mariana, you are late." Splinter said, frowning at the girl, who bowed.

"I am sorry sensei, but I was at the subway station playing violin. And then I was with Angel buying a cake for tonight, and-"

"Did you get chocolate?!" Mikey asked, sounding excited, and Mariana flashed a grin at him.

"Of course." Splinter sighed, and motioned for her to sit down. She bowed once more, and removed her sweater along with her new coat, leaving her in a tight black tank top. She sat with her brothers to watch the spar.

"You will spar with Michelangelo after Raphael and Leonardo conclude their fight." Splinter told her as the spar began, leaving Mariana to look at her brothers. It had been nine years since she found Mikey. Nine years since she became part of the family, nine years since she found her home. She felt a smile cross her face as she turned back to watch the fight, as Raph and Leo began their fight.

The two were evenly matched as they clashed, neither giving in, until Leo hit Raph's sai hard enough to send it straight between Mikey and Donnie. The two yanked away fairly fast, Donnie crashing into Mariana and making her fall.

"What are you eating?" she moaned, shoving him off her, sitting up.

"Food." Donnie said sarcastically. Mariana hit him in answer, as Raph managed to disarm Leo, and flip the turtle over his shoulder with a grin.

"Mariana." Said Splinter, as the two elder boys seperated from their fight. Mariana stood, along with Mikey, and went to face off, Mariana withdrawing her two kama from under her skirt, flicking the blades out with a smirk at Mikey.

Mariana wasn't an idiot- Mikey was faster and stronger then her, she would have to fight dirty to win. Luckily, she was a ninja, she had no calms about that.

"Hajime!" Splinter announced, and the two siblings moved, Mikey using the chain of his nunchucks to block her blades, which she replied with a kick to his stomach, wishing she wore her tougher boots, with the heavy soles.

She managed to get him to move and she kicked at his head as he aimed at her ribs, which made her fall when it hit- she wasn't wearing her normal body armor, and she cursed as she felt her side burn a bit. Given their shells, her brothers could take a much harder hit than she could and they often forgot she couldn't as she did normally wear her armor. Mikey winced hearing the curse, and Donnie half rose from where he sat. Leo and Raph both shifted in their spots, as Splinter eyed the fight with more careful consideration.

"Mariana, are you-" she moved then, using one kama to grab one of his nunchuck chains, yanking out out of his loose grasp, as she used the other to go for his side. Mikey moved faster then her though, and knocked one of her weapons loose, making it go flying. She jumped back, and faced her brother, both of them with one weapon.

"Dirty trick." He told her, grinning.

"Worked, didn't it?" she asked, before going at him again, ducking and using a sweep kick, making him jump. She used her blade to try and yank his other nunchuck out, but he caught her, instead turning it on her, and yanking her weapon out of her hand, before he landed on her back, making her gasp out.

"Crap, Mariana!" Donnie yelped, jumping up. Mariana groaned. The boys worried too much about her, always being so careful not the hurt her in their spars.

"I'm fine." She grumbled, Mikey moving a bit to try and relieve some of the weight. "Mikey wins."

"I believe you still have your switchblade Mariana." Splinter said, though he did let the spar finish.

"Yeah, but I do have plans for tomorrow morning, so I'm not interested in being bruised early." Mariana said, sitting up and wincing. Donnie ran over, and began to tap her sides, feeling her ribs.

"What plans?" Leo asked her, every inch the concerned brother.

"Street fight competition." Was the honest reply. "Angel told me that the place would be hoping." Mariana hoped to hustle a bit before she took the ring, but she was probably going to be tossed right into the ring. Angel would hustle for her.

"You all did well today." Splinter told them as Donnie finished his inspection, and the two moved to sit with their brothers.

"But I did better." Raph said, smirking. Splinter frowned at him, as Raph smirked even wider as Leo scowled.

"This is about self-improvement Raphael, not about winning." Said Splinter sternly, looking over his children with a firm eye.

"I know sensei, but I won, and they lost." He leaned backwards, arms behind his head, as Splinter circled him and then reached out to grab a pressure point.

"Ah!" Raph screamed, making his siblings wince, as he babbled out "But what really important is we all did our best, good job everyone!" Before Splinter let go. He chuckled at his children, and watched as they left after grabbing the various weapons throw around, or to grab a new one like Donnie did. Mariana stayed though, to talk.

"I am sorry for being late sensei." Said Mariana, bowing her head.

"I understand my daughter." Splinter said, laying a hand on her shoulder. "But you must watch the time better." Mariana nodded, feeling a bit embarrassed. "But, what's done is done." He watched the girl go, pausing to grab her sweater and coat as she exited the dojo.

"Oi, Mariana, move your violin!" Mikey called out to her as she entered the main area of the lair, and she obeyed, taking it off the counter as Mikey prepared soup. She grabbed her bags as well, except for the cake which she placed in the fridge. She was very glad her buying human food meant no more algae and worms for everyone- from what she understood everyone else was relieved to.

"_Tomato or chicken?" _she asked Mikey, who flashed a smile at her.

_ "Tomato of course! And grilled cheese!"_

_ "Oh, that's going to be delicious!" _

"_It does sound good!" _Leo called over in Japanese, and Mariana chuckled as Mikey began chatting with Leo in Japanese. Mariana went to her room to put her violin away. She took a moment to get her brothers' gifts from their hiding space, a cubby hole she made to store the more illegal things she had, like her Taser or the fake tickets she sometimes sold on Broadway to tourists.

She pulled the gifts out, and entered the living room once more, setting the gifts on the counter as Mikey began dishing everyone up.

"Happy mutation day!" she told them cheerfully, getting a cheer as she herself dug in. Splinter had three grilled cheeses, happily eating them. Once they were finished, Mikey brought out the cake with a happy grin.

"Ah, fifteen years to this day, that our lives were changed forever, and we became the unlikeliest of families." Hummed Splinter, as they ate the dessert.

"Tell us the story?" Mikey asked eagerly, prompting Splinter to state,

"Michelangelo, I have told it many times." Mariana chuckled to herself, knowing Splinter did enjoy telling the story. He just liked teasing his family more.

"Pleeease?" Mikey begged, clapping his hands together. "Please?!" Raph slapped his hand over Mikey's mouth, sighing.

"Please, it's the only way to shut Mikey up!" Mariana listened as Splinter began the story, almost able to see it as he spoke of being human, of buying the turtles.

She could almost see the strange men, the alley way. She could pretty much smell the garbage as the fight broke out. And she could almost see the change that came upon her family as the ooze affected them, turning them into what they were now.

Splinter pulled out the strange container that had held the ooze, prompting Mikey to grab it and hug it.

"Mom." The entire group just stared, before Splinter continued.

"That was the beginning of our life together, and I thought we were complete, until the day Michelangelo came home, speaking of the girl he met in the sewers, the one who was ill. It was then we became complete, when she chose to stay with us and be a part of our family." Splinter smiled at Mariana, who let out a tiny smile in return.

"Sensei, now that we are fifteen, I think we're finally ready to go to the surface, don't you?" Leo asked their sensei. That made all of the kids look towards him.

"Yes." Mariana nearly fell off her chair then, shocked at the words coming from his mouth. She had never expected him to say yes, he was always going on about how dangerous it was for them, and how Mariana was the only one possibly safe given she was human.

"And no." Mariana righted herself, still listening.

"Awww, what?" the boys asked, as they turned big eyes on their father.

"I hate when he does that." Raph grumbled, Mariana privately agreeing with him. He did the same thing with her a few times, mostly over training.

"You have grown powerful, but you are still young." Splinter said, eyeing his sons with firm resolve. "You lack the maturity to use your skills wisely." Mariana snorted a bit.

"Like there aren't any immature people up there." She muttered.

"With ninjutsu training?" Splinter asked her.

"With martial arts training, yeah."

"Are these people mutant turtles?"

"Or Mikey?" asked Raph, unable to stop himself, making Mariana snort.

"Point, and I am staying out of this conversation now." Mariana decreed, as Mikey pouted.

"So sensei, isn't that just no?" Donnie asked, getting the conversation back on track.

"Yes… and no." Splinter smirked at his sons who all just stared, completely confused.

_He's just doing this on purpose_. Thought Mariana, raising an eyebrow at her father. He got way to much enjoyment out of tormenting his kids.

"Wisdom comes from experience, and experience comes from making mistakes." Splinter said, putting his hands inside his robe.

"So in order for us to gain the wisdoms." Donnie pondered, "We have to make the mistakes, so we can go."

"No."

"And yes?"

"No." The boys deflated, but Leo piped up, trying to prove his point as Mariana stood and began clearing the plates;

"Sensei, we know you're trying to protect us, but we can't spend our whole lives down here." He pointed out. Splinter sighed, and looked at his sons. Maybe it was time.

"Very well, you may go, tonight." The boys broke out into loud cheers, Mikey holding up his hand in joy.

"High-Three!" They all slapped their hands together as Splinter turned to his daughter.

"Mariana, are you able to accompany them?" She blinked, looking at her father from where she had begun the dishes. "I wish for them to have someone more experienced go with them."

"I should be in bed before one… but yeah, I can accompany them. We should wait for night though." She checked the clock on the wall. "Two more hours at the most." Mikey cheered and jumped over to hug his sister.

"This is going to be awesome!" She smiled, and patted his head.

"Of course it will be, _tartaruga." _Mikey grinned, and hugged her tighter. They finished the clean-up, and opened the gifts Mariana had got them. Leo got a new DVD of his favorite show, _Space Heroes _while Mikey got a new comic. Donnie got some computer thing she bought at Walmart she remembered him wanting, and Raph got a new magazine on bikes he'd wanted for a while. Splinter loved the tea set, and they shared a grin over the design.

Leo instantly went off to watch his DVD while Mariana ducked back into her room to get ready for the night. She pulled out her body armour- armour Splinter and she had created together. A tough leather vest she wore under her sweaters, a pair of leather boots that had very thick soles, and a pair of arm guards she wore under her sweater as well. She's been the one to buy the leather- and boots, while Splinter had put it together. Her legs were mostly unguarded, but most people went for the stomach or arms anyway.

Mariana checked the time idly, listening in as she heard Raph mock Leo for his love of Space Heroes. The two of them swapped out to Japanese, insulting each other rather creatively. She probably could take a quick nap or work on one of her model ships. She had about five on the go right then.

Her phone buzzed, and she looked at it.

_d __fyt __S __cxl __2moz__-A _Mariana stared, and then sighed.

_Why?-M_

_Jimmy got __cort__ by __d__ cops-A_

Mariana cursed, glaring at nothing. The cops catching Jimmy was a pain- he was one of the main organizers of the fights, and to know that someone caught him would throw the entire gang into disarray.

Mariana had never meant to join a gang, but she didn't mind being part of one. Their gang mostly ran fights or would pull minor cons on tourists. They were less of a gang, and more of a club- they'd meet up, plan something, disperse and meet up later.

_dey __myt __cum __aftr__ us __nxt__. __woch__ot__gal__.-A_

_Alright. BTW, I know you can text like a normal person, do it.-M _

_yr __d __1 __txtN __lk__ a noob-A_

_I am no longer answering to you tonight.-M_

Mariana put her phone and headed out to the living room to watch _Space Heroes_ with Leo.

"The fights are canceled tomorrow." She announced, dropping down on the couch. "Jimmy got caught by the cops."

"Will you be alright next time you're on the surface?" Raph asked her, reading his magazine.

"Should be. Angel is the one I'm worried about, she'll start a fight no matter what." Mariana shrugged, as she settled into watching the very cheesy and ridiculous show.

When it was time, she stood at the exit with her brothers, listening to Splinter.

"You are going up into a strange and hostile world. You must maintain awareness at all times." He stated, walking back and forth.

"Hai sensei!" The boys shouted in union, looking extremely excited.

"Stay in the shadows."

"Hai sensei."

"Don't talk to strangers!"

"Hai sensei!"

"Everyone is a stranger."

"…Hai sensei." The boys groaned, as Mariana chuckled, a smirk on her face as she watched the interaction.

"Sensei, I think they get it." She told him. The boys took off as she spoke, but not before Splinter shouted out;

"Make sure you go before you leave, the restrooms up there are filthy!" Mariana laughed as the boys moaned, and she followed her brothers up to the surface, ignoring Splinter's finale comment about looking both ways before crossing the street. She didn't often see them this excited about anything. Most of the time, they were happy, but hardly so excited. It made them look years younger.

The alley the came upon was covered in graffiti- Mariana noted some of it looked like Purple Dragon work, and the rest looked like some other punks. Maybe that Jones boy who live in Angel's apartment building.

Mariana frowned, noting the garbage and rotting smell, feeling a bit bad that this was their first sight upon visiting the surface.

"It's so… beautiful." Mikey said.

"…Now I know the sewers screwed you over _tartaruga." _Mariana said, seeing how the others looked around. "…How it really messed with you all." She amended herself.

"What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Raph shouted, leading the way, pointedly ignoring his sister, as Mikey pouted at her.

"YEAH!" the others shouted, taking off. Mariana shook her head, and followed them as they explored the streets. This was really going to be an adventure.

* * *

No, this story will not just be the entire series rewritten. Mariana just went with them now because Splinter wanted them to have a guide. Mariana has her own life, and while she will go with them sometimes, she won't be there all the time.

Angel is very loosely based on the 2003 version. She is Mariana's best human friend, and I had a fun time coming up with her. I made her Scottish because I like the idea of her using her accent to annoy people and because you don't often see Scottish characters in TMNT. She doesn't know about the turtles (yet) but she does think they're hiding from someone, so she doesn't say anything. Angel enjoys getting rises out of Mariana, hence why she texts like she does because it annoys Mariana.

The violin thing was my main thought during the creation of Mariana, really. I wanted her to be able to play it because it's a beautiful instrument. Her entire character just spawned from me wanting to write someone who plays it. Given Raph has a drum kit, I don't think it's a jump to have her have a violin.

Kama are the sickle weapons April tried out in the show. Mariana's are kinda like Mikey's and the blade can go into the wood. She wears them under her skirt or in her coat. Mariana does kinda dress like a hipster to. Mostly because she would rock it.

Well, review please! This was a long chapter! Over three thousand words, go me!


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: **Sister Dear

**Summery: **They were her family. She would not lose them, not like she lost her brother. She would protect them until her dying day, because that was what sisters did.

* * *

"Adventure could be around any corner!" Leo shouted, jumping ahead as they strolled down the dark street. He poked his head around corners while his brothers gasped and awed over all they saw.

"You guys are like kids in a candy store." Mariana said, watching as Donnie gasped over a computer in a store.

"What do you expect?" Raph asked her, grinning, which Mariana returned.

"I see your point." She allowed.

"Guys look at this!" Mikey called, staring at a light. "It's an eye, made out of light! Now it's hand!" He stared as the cycle continued, exclaiming over it. "It's an eye again! Now the hand!"

"Come on genius." Raph grumbled, dragging him off.

"The eye!" Mariana cackled as they left the store. She loved her family.

_"You guys really are acting like children." _She laughed, prompting Donnie to turn and chat back,

_"We are fifteen."_

_ "Didn't you just argue about being mature with Sensei about-" _the sound of a vehicle made her twirl, and she stared as a pizza delivery guy came, and froze, staring at the turtles.

"Grah!" Raph screamed at the boy with a grin, making him panic and speed off. A pizza fell off the back.

"We should get to higher ground." Leo said, looking embarrassed, as Mariana eyed the boy's back.

"It's like almost eleven, people are still getting pizza?" She wondered, as she followed her brothers, except for Mikey.

"Mikey, come on!" Raph called down, and the boy came up with the box the pizza delivery boy had.

"Ick, don't tell me you want that." Mariana groaned, as he set it down.

"Look what I found!"

"Ooh, a box." Mocked Raph, as Mariana glared at said box.

"Piz-ah?" asked Leo, looking at the words on the box.

"It's food." Said Mariana as they opened it. "And gross." But they didn't listen, and Mikey ate some.

"Mmmmm." He looked like his taste buds had exploded as Mariana made a face. "…Uh, you guys wouldn't like it, here I'll-"

"No way!"

"Hands off!"

"Ick. Seriously." Mariana said, eyeing them as they ate it.

"This is amazing!" Raph stated as he ignored her.

"How can you not like this?" Donnie asked Mariana, who wrinkled her nose.

"It's gross man. That sauce?" Mariana said, making another face. "You guys are nuts."

"Come on, have a bite!" Raph said, almost shoving a slice in her face.

"Ew! Get that out of my face!" Mariana yelped, running away as Raph tried to make her eat it. In answer Mikey snatched it, and ate it. Raph smacked Mikey who just laughed, and grinned like a maniac.

"I love it up here!" Mikey cried in joy, ignoring his sister and brother, who muttered curse words in Portuguese and Japanese respectively at each other as they began to jump across the rooftops. They stopped on one roof, and Mariana began to yank her hair up into a bun, tired of it flying everywhere.

"It's getting late." Leo noted, looking at the moon. "We should probably start heading back."

"Awww." Whined the other boys, except Mariana who ignored them as she check her phone. She usually stayed out later then this, but she didn't say that, wanting her siblings to go back home where things were safer then out and about.

"Lame." Mikey whined as they began to turn.

"Hey guys! Look over here!" Donnie said, staring off the roof. Mariana went over to her purple masked brother to look down, to see him staring at a red head in a yellow shirt, walking with a man who Mariana assumed must be the father. Mariana mostly focused on the girl.

What was she wearing? Seriously? Was this that girl Angel talked about, the nerd with the bad fashion sense? Why would anyone where those shorts and those boots?

"She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen." Donnie breather, staring at the girl. Mariana tilted her head. Yeah, she was pretty cute. Her hair was…

…_Wait… _

"What?" Mariana asked as Raph spoke up as well.

"Isn't she the only girl you've ever seen?"

"No, he's seen me, but not the point. Donnie… do you think she's cute?" Mariana asked, leaning in to her brother, staring at him. Donnie responded by blushing, making Mariana grin. "So… you like red-heads? Aww, that's so cute! My little brother, all grown up and getting a crush!" she yanked him into her arms, cackling.

"I'm taller then you!" he yelped, trying to get away, but Mariana ignored him.

"It's adorable!" Raph and Leo grinned, about to join in, when Mikey called out,

"Uh, guys?" They turned to see a white van had pulled up, and five men were coming out. The older man gasped, and grabbed at his daughter, making Mariana frown. _He knows them… _she thought.

"We have to help them!" Donnie said, jumping onto the ledge of the building. Leo reached out to grab him.

"Master Splinter instructions were very clear. We are supposed to stay away from people." He blinked, and then said. "And bathrooms."

"I thought you wanted to be a hero." Raph sneered. "Since when do heroes ask for permission?"

"Dad!" the girl screamed, and Mariana turned to her, feeling a sick pool in her stomach.

_"But why?"_

_ "Because a bunch of guys are after me, okay? It's dangerous."_

_ "But I don't want to go alone."_

_ "I can't go with you right now, okay Mariana? I'll come though, wait by that statue we heard about, okay?"_

_ "Eagles and Prey?"_

_ "Yeah, I'll come on your birthday, I promise."_

"I'm going." Mariana announced, vaulting over without another word.

She'd been lucky to find another family after losing her old one. But this girl…

This girl didn't deserve it.

As soon as she hit the ground, she pulled a kunai out of one of her coat pockets, throwing it right at the men. It stuck in one of their arms, and they turned to stare as she kept running right at them, yanking her weapons out from under her skirt, flicking out the blades.

Her brothers joined her soon after, all five of them attacking, Mariana focusing on getting the dad away from the men.

The man she struck with her kunai attacked her, not bothering to remove the knife. Mariana slashed at his stomach, and he responded with a punch to the chest that knocked her backwards.

_He isn't bleeding… why isn't he bleeding? _Mariana wondered, wincing from the pain in her chest. That punch was way to heavy.

"Get out of here!" Mariana yelled at the girl as she swung at the men. However, one of them pulled out a gun, making Mariana hiss out a curse as she had to dodge the… lasers.

"Okay, this is creepy!" Mariana yelled, before she ducked a sai. "Raph, watch-" her brothers were fighting… but they were mostly fighting themselves. "Are you kidding?"

"Let me go!" the girl yelled, and Mariana groaned, as she turned around, but Donnie beat her there first, knocking over the man who had grabbed the girl and swung her over his shoulder. Donnie caught her, and smiled.

"AHHHHHH!" Mariana couldn't help the chuckle as she jumped back into the brawl.

It was kinda funny to see that happen, but they had a fight going on. Mariana jumped another guy, and slammed her blade into his shoulder, but was thrown off before her blade could go in to far.

There was still no blood. Mariana frowned, before she heard even more noise. She turned to see her siblings getting tangled up in one another.

"_Morons! Focus on the fight!" _she yelled at them, highly annoyed, until Donnie and Mikey were knocked into trashcans. "Guys!" she took a step forward, and that was what the Man she'd been fighting needed to throw her into her own trashcans. "_Oh, screw you, you son of a-" _she yelled at the man, getting up only to find that the van was driving away.

"…Lovely." Mariana announced, as her brothers came over.

"You alright?" Raph asked her, and she gave a nod, patting her side.

"Yeah, but am I ever glad the fight is canceled tomorrow." She blinked. She looked at Leo, Donnie and Raph, staring. "Wait… where's Mikey?" That prompted Mikey to run screaming towards them.

"Dudes! Dudes!" he came over, and leaned over panting. "You're never going to believe this!" He gestured to the alley he had been in. "That guys, he has a brain!"

"…We all have brains Mikey." Leo told his brother as Mariana picked up her weapons and got the blades back in, slipping them under her skirt once more.

"Not all of us." Donnie said, rolling his eyes.

"In our chests?!"

"…Mikey did you hit your head?" Mariana asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No Mikey, not in our chests." Leo said, sighing.

"You're not listening to me!" Mikey yelped, prompting Leo to slap him.

"…Did you just copy that from _Space Heroes_?" Mariana asked her brother, staring at him. Leo ignored him, instead telling Mikey he was trying to calm him down. "Oh, god, you did. HA!"

"Why would that calm me down!?" Mikey yelled at his brother.

"I think he's delusional." Donnie muttered to Raph, making Mikey pout.

"I just… I'm telling you, the big guy's a robot!" He pointed to the alley.

"Mikey…" Donnie moaned.

"They weren't bleeding." Mariana said, frowning. "I hit them hard, I even dug my kama into one of their shoulders- they didn't bleed." She pulled her weapons out and snapped them open. Nothing, no blood or anything. She wasn't sure if Mikey was telling the truth, but... giant turtles who did ninjutsu. She was fairly certain anything was possible now.

"Are you sure you hit them?" Donnie asked. Mariana glared.

"Of course I am! I never miss!"

"Look, let's go look in the alley." Leo said, motioning to the alley, and they did, only to find it empty.

"It's gone?!" Mikey cried out, making Mariana sigh.

"If it was a robot, it could have had some kind of retrieval system." She pointed out.

"Or you could have missed." Donnie said.

"I don't miss." Mariana stated, looking right at her brother. "I got him in the shoulder!" Leo reached out to grab her shoulder, but she yanked her arm out of his grasp.

"You missed!" Donnie snapped, and Mariana moved, slamming one kama above Donnie's head, and the other pole side first into his stomach, pushing him back. She kicked his bo out of his hands, and leaned into him, trapping him against the wall.

"I. Don't. Miss." Leo reached out, and grabbed his sister, making her step back. Donnie stared at her, anger in his eyes as she bared her teeth at him.

"Calm down, alright?" He told them, before he looked to where the truck had gone. "…We should go back to the lair."

Mariana scowled, and stormed away from them, unable to look at them. She didn't miss. She doesn't miss.

She never misses, she's just as good as them.

-0-

Sitting in front of Splinter, getting a lecture always made Mariana's teeth grate. Splinter was great, he got she didn't like authority, and he respected that while she loved him like a father, she wouldn't let him hold his authority over her. She can't, and he understood it.

But ever since she agreed to be trained, he had always told her his authority as her sensei mattered. It was the only time it did, so she accepted.

It still really sucked. She hated it, being told what to do, being forced to do things out of respect. She was her own person, she wasn't there to be toyed with.

"And so your inability to work together allowed them to get away." Splinter finished his rant.

"Well maybe if I hadn't had to waste time with hero boy, I could have saved them." Growled Raph at Leo, who scowled right back.

"Hey, if you hadn't gotten in my way, I could have done it." Leo turned to Donnie and scowled at him. "And you went flying off on your own, how smart was that?"

"Well it would have worked out great if someone hadn't hit me in the head with their nunchucks!"

"Well… if someone hadn't just run right into battle with no plan then this wouldn't have happened!" Mikey yelled, pointing at Mariana, who blinked.

"…Mikey, I'm a street fighter." She said, raising an eyebrow. "I will admit, I hadn't been expecting you guys to follow, but I'm use to taking on multiple opponents." She turned back to Splinter, who sighed, looking at his children.

"This is partially my fault. I trained you all as individuals, not as a team. As your teacher, and father, that responsibility is mine." Splinter said, looking away. "Perhaps in another year, you can try again."

"Another year?! Has everyone forgotten that people were kidnapped!?" Donnie yelled, jumping up. "They don't have a year, sensei, we have to do something now?!"

Splinter looked at his third eldest, taken aback.

"You didn't see her sensei. You didn't see the way the girl looked into my eyes." Donnie said desperately. "She was scared and counting on me… US! To save her." Splinter turned his head to a photo, staring at it.

Mariana looked down. She hated admitting it, but thinking about Splinter's past always made her heart ache. She felt like a replacement, just a fill in for his long lost daughter. She didn't talk about it with him, but whenever he stared at the picture, she felt her heart clench. She was just the fake, the replacement.

"Yes, you must save her." Splinter muttered. The boys shared a grin, before Leo began to speak.

"I agree sensei, but in that fight…" Leo hesitated, but continued. "We weren't exactly a well-oiled machine."

"Like that robot with the brain thingy." Mikey said, and Raph sighed.

"Give it a rest."

"He didn't bleed!" Mariana argued, Mikey nodded. "I'm not saying there were brain things, but that was fishy!" Mikey pouted, as Donnie muttered about missing the hit. "Donnie, I swear-"

"Enough!" Splinter said, knowing that if left alone, Donnie and Mariana would fight for hours. "I suppose you need a leader if you are going to fight effectively as a unit."

"...Can I be leader?" Leo asked.

"Why should you be the leader?" Raph demanded. "I kicked your butt, I should be leader!"

"Hey, I'm smarter then all you guys put together, it should be me!" Donnie said, glaring.

"No way, it should be me!" Mikey said, pointing at himself, and prompting them all to stare. "I don't really have a reason, I just think it should be me."

They all looked at Mariana, who blinked, and looked back.

"…What?"

"Aren't you going to say anything?" Donnie asked.

"No. I'm not part of your team, I'm joining you guys for now, but after this, you guys will mostly be on your own." She said, before she stood up. "May I be excused? If we are leaving tonight, I wish to prepare."

"Yes you may, while I meditate on this." Splinter said, and she left, going to her room. She locked the door behind her before she stripped off her skirt, weapons and upper garments, leaving herself in her leggings and her black sports bra. Her stomach was already purpling.

"_You've got to be kidding." _She groaned, and popped open her secret cupboard and pulled out bruise balm and bandages.

Raph comes in when she's bandaging, uncaring the door was locked.

"I regret ever teaching you guys how to pick locks." She told him, stretching and moving her upper body.

"You alright?" Raph asked, eyeing her movements, and noting the bruise balm.

"I'll be stiff in the morning, but I'm fine now." She told him, grabbing her leather armor top and putting it back on. "Leo got picked, huh?"

"How'd you guess?"

"It's Leo." She told him, picking through her clothes. "_I pegged him as the leader right when Sensei suggested it."_

_"And not me?" _Raph demanded in Japanese, as Mariana grabbed a white tank top with the touristy slogan on the front, proclaiming she loved New York. She pulled it on, as she spoke some more.

_"We picked Jimmy because he's a loyal guy. A little bit of a-"_she made a crude motion and smirked, picking up a plaid skirt and pulling it on. "_But he's loyal. Looking for a leader, you don't look for strength, or brains, you look for character. Raph, you and I are to much alike. We'd burn teams to the ground if we were leaders." _

"Whatever." Raph stormed out of her room, and Mariana went back to outfit picking, slipping her arm guards back on. She hesitated, before going over to her closet and pulling out a trench coat.

She'd never worn it yet. It was a gift from Jimmy and brand new, way before they knew how much she hated new clothes that weren't underwear or shoes. It was a nice trench coat, one made of green fabric that was thick like canvas. The hood attached was a light grey, and it had so many pockets.

She hesitated, before pulling it on. The stiffness made her make a face, but it fit nice. She looks at it, and knows what to do.

She put her switchblade in one pocket, while grabbing a handful of kunai and slipping them into the inner pockets, followed by her shuriken. Her kama were left under her skirt, but she also slipped some rope into her pockets, ready for anything. Her old pocket knife was slipped into a pocket as well, the one next to her heart.

"I see you are getting ready, my daughter." Splinter appeared out of nowhere all the time, Mariana had noted it many times before.

Doesn't mean she still doesn't jump.

"Sensei!" she complained to him, as he came in. She huffed, and turned to the mirror, beginning to braid it.

"These people may be harmful." Splinter told her, as she finished.

"I know." She removed the locket around her neck, staring at the silver surface. She opened it to look at the two pictures, one of a man with her eyes, and one of a woman with her wavy hair. A single dark lock of hair rested inside it. She closed the locket, and put it in an inner pocket, one with a zipper and a button.

"You will be the most exposed given you can go out on the surface." Splinter said, and Mariana turned around to be presented with a black mask. It was leather, and would cover the lower part of her face. As she took it, she felt an indentation. She turned the mask over to see the symbol of the Hamato Clan etched into the fabric that would be on the wearers face.

"Sensei?"

"This was my mask when I was human. I believe you can make better use of it now, my daughter." Mariana held the mask in her hand, and looked up to see her father looking at her.

With a smile, she bowed her head, and placed the mask upon her face, tying the straps around her head.

She looked up to see her father gone, but she ignored that and instead strode out of her room, walking straight towards her brothers who were waiting for her. She smirked under her mask.

It was ninja time.

* * *

Note on Mariana's fighting style: She isn't like her brothers, which I'm trying to show. Mariana is a lot meaner than them. She's meaner than Raph- she wants her opponents to bleed. She wants them down for the count, so she will strike to make them go down. When she sparred with Mikey, she wasn't trying to do harm, which is partly why she failed, because she wasn't giving it her all. Mariana never fights full out against her brothers.

Donnie's animosity mostly stems from Mariana knowing what buttons to push and vice versa. They love each other, but they fight like cats and dogs to.

And yes, that is my thought about April's clothes. No, seriously, girl, what are you wearing? No, just... no.

This was an interesting chapter. I told myself when I first started this story that I would not swear in it, so I had a hard time writing it, given I picture Mariana having a foul mouth, but I wanted to try something different.

I have a tumblr for Sister Dear! In it, I post random things that would clutter up authors notes or things that don't have a place in the story. Or random AU ideas. The link is on my profile, and you can ask stuff there. I even have a picture of Mariana and Angel up.


	5. Chapter 5

**Title: **Sister Dear

**Summery: **They were her family. She would not lose them, not like she lost her brother. She would protect them until her dying day, because that was what sisters did.

* * *

Mariana groaned, laying on the rooftop, her mask off while they waited.

"This is ridiculous!" she announced, making Raph grumble an agreement as they both glared at Leo, who ignored them.

Donnie was skipping with the rope Mariana had brought, while Mikey was sleeping away. Leo ignored his family, as they all waited.

"I should have brought cards, why didn't you tell me we were staking the place out, you bring stuff for this!" whined Mariana in annoyance.

"Have you ever staked any place out before?" Donnie asked her, still skipping rope.

"A few times, mostly the Purple Dragon hideouts. Those morons seem to think they can muscle in on any territory, but we've… discouraged them a fair few times." Mariana flashed a crooked grin. "We usually bring cards for these situations." She flopped back down and sighed.

This was boring, very, very boring.

-0-

"I'm thinking of something green. Greeen. Greeen." Mikey said, grinning at his siblings, who groaned.

"Is it Raphael again?" Donnie asked, not even opening his eyes as Mariana played with some stones she'd found on the roof.

"Man, you're good at this!"

"My turn. I'm thinking of something stupid." Raph said, glaring at Leo.

"Mikey." Donnie and Mariana said.

"Hey!" Mikey pouted at the two.

"Close, but no!"

"Leo's plan!" Donnie and Mikey said, grinning, as Mariana made her answer known by tossing her stone at Leo, which he caught in his hand, annoyed.

"We have three winners!" Raph cheered. Leo glared at his siblings, before turning back to what he was looking at. Mariana closed her eyes, leaning back and falling asleep to the sound of bickering

-0-

"Mariana! They showed up!" Mikey said, shaking her awake, and she groaned, sitting up and blinking.

"Oh, Leo's plan worked, okay." Mariana said, getting up and grabbing her mask, tying it one, and grinning behind it.

"Gentlemen, and lady, I have a bold and-" Leo began, but his siblings chose not to listen, instead jumping right down into the action. There was a man in a tanktop getting out of a familiar van on the street in front of the building they had been staking out, and he wasn't looking around much.

Mariana smirked, landing right beside the man, as Raph landed in front. The man jumped and took a step back.

"Alright buddy." Raph said, smirking. "We can do this the easy way, or my vote..." he brought his sais out, as Mariana drew her kamas from under her skirt, flicking the blades out, as their siblings all got into position. "The hard way."

"Yeah, think of it logically- there are five of us, and one of you." Donnie agreed. "What are you going to do?" Mariana launched herself, and slammed her left kama into the man's shoulder as he went for his back pocket, making him scream in pain.

"Don't go for the gun." She ordered, smirking as she yanked her blade free. Blood soaked his shirt, making her frown.

"See, human."

"He doesn't look like the other guys, Donnie, doesn't count." Mariana said, as she reached around the grab the gun, staring at it. "…What is this? It looks like something from _Space Heroes_." Of course, then the guy pulled out his other gun, making Mariana yelp, and duck as it fired lazers. LAZERS.

"_You didn't notice that?!"_ Donnie screamed at her as they were forced to dodge.

"_Shut up Donnie!" _Mariana screamed back, as she dove behind a set of trashcans. "_Most sane people don't have two guns at a time!" _

Mariana peaked around the cans, staring as the man drove off, with Raph on the roof of it.

"DAMN IT!" she yelled after the car, standing.

"Why didn't you notice the other gun?!" Donnie yelled at her as they chased down the car.

"I'm sorry, but shooting two guns and the same time is kind of impossible unless you're scary good at aiming!" Mariana snapped back. "I'm not use to people carrying more than one!"

Mariana noted that Raph had been thrown off, and ran towards him. She wasn't as good as Donnie at fighting, so she would make sure her brother was okay. She also wanted to get away from Donnie, honestly. She loved her brother, but sometimes he just drove her crazy.

"Hey, you alright?" she asked him, grabbing his arm and pulling him up.

"Yeah, didn't even get bruised." He chuckled. She snorted in answer.

"Lucky."

"So, it's just in all the movies that they get two guns?" Asked Raph as they ran towards where their brothers had gone. Mariana nodded her agreement.

"Angel is very fond of listing how exactly that is impossible and ridiculous. I can't watch any movie without her ranting about it." They reached where their brothers were, and stopped.

"I miss all the fun." Raph moaned, seeing the flipped van. Mariana and Raph ran over to where their brothers were, hiding behind a wall. Leo poked his head around to make sure he didn't have a gun, and then turned to give the weirdest sign language possible.

"I don't know what that means!" Raph said, throwing his arms up and around. Leo groaned, as Mariana made up a silly idea.

"Oooh, were you saying you have a dead carp in your shell?"

"Dude!" Mikey groaned, and Leo gave Mariana a dirty look.

"Go around back."

"Why didn't you just say so?" Mikey demanded before the slunk around, and got to the back of the van, opening it to let a canister out. It rolled to Mikey's feet and everyone stared. It looked just like the canister that mutated the boys.

"Mom?!" Mikey gasped.

"Whoa." Said the others, ignoring their sibling as they stared at the canister. Mariana stared at the fluid inside, and wondered what would happen if she had it dropped on her. Would she become like her brothers? Would she be just like them?

"So that's…" Leo's voice interrupted Mariana's thoughts and she looked up to see her brothers staring at the canister.

"The mutagen that changed us into what we are today." Donnie said in an almost awed voice.

"Let's drink some!" Mikey cheered, and Mariana twitched a bit. She would love to be like her brothers…

"What, why would you do that?!" demanded Raph, glaring at his brother.

"Because what happens if you mutate a mutant, you get a super mutant!" Mikey cheered, and Mariana blinked as Leo rolled his eyes.

"Seriously?" She asked, curious.

"Or a puddle of goo on the sidewalk." Donnie said, and Mariana jerked back. Okay, she was not touching that now. Ew.

"Either way, it's an improvement." Raph said, smirking and Mariana cracked a grin at him.

"Guys, this is huge!" Leo said, staring at the canister. Mariana hummed under her breath. She had always wondered how her family had become how they were, and she was very curious about it.

"Anything is possible for alien robots!" Mikey said, startling Mariana who hadn't been paying attention.

"He isn't a robot." Mariana said, turning back to them. "And I wasn't listening, what's going on?"

"We're going to see what this guy knows." Raph said smirking, grabbing the canister, and leaning towards the man who was regaining consciousness from where he had been thrown when the van crashed. "Who are you, and what's going on?" the man scoffed.

"The name is Snake, and I'm saying nothing to you hideous freaks!"

"…Snake, seriously?" Mariana asked. "That is the most cliché name in the world." Raph snorted, as he began unscrewing the lid of the mutagen.

"Well you don't know us yet, but we'll fix that." Raph said, holding the canister up. "You see, we were just regular guys, until we got hit by this."

"It's true, I was lucky to avoid it." Mariana agreed, grabbing the man's shoulders and digging her nails into them.

"Now you could turn out handsome like me." Raph said, as Mariana forced the man to sit still. "Or you could turn out disgusting and deformed, like Mikey."

"Hey!" Mikey pouted as Mariana chuckled deeply in her throat, feeling her crazy grin, as Mikey termed it, spread across her face.

"Or you could stay human, and tell us everything." Mariana hissed in his ear, watching as Raph began to turn the canister.

"Wait, wait!" The man spluttered, before he told them everything. "They call themselves the Kraang, they've been grabbing scientists from all over the city!"

"Well, that worked out pretty good." Leo said, smirking at his siblings.

"Of course it did, do you wanna look like Mikey?" Raph asked, prompting a 'Hey!' from said turtle.

"What do they want with scientists?" Leo asked Snake, who frowned.

"I don't know." Raph held up the canister threateningly. "All I know is they're taking them out of the city tonight, I don't know where."

"This is awesome!" Donnie said suddenly, prompting Mariana to raise an eyebrow. "That girl's dad is a scientist, I'm a scientist. She's going to love me." He sighed, and Mariana bit out a snort.

"I don't think you're her type." Snake said, prompting Mariana to reach up, and grab his hair, yanking his head back viciously. "Ah!" She didn't say anything and let go of his hair after a few seconds.

"What?" she asked her brothers, who were staring at her. They rolled their eyes and Leo turned to Snake.

"Where are they now?"

-0-

"Do not take your eyes off him Mikey." Mariana ordered her brother, who sighed.

"I knnnnow." He moaned, and Mariana rolled her eyes before turning to her other brothers, who were studying the building they had been lead to.

"There's got to be at least twenty guys down there." Leo mumbled. Mariana grabed the telescope he had and looked herself.

"Plus whoever else is inside." She said, watching the men. "Building is about… eh… twenty or thirty feet high, maybe… hmmm, six hundred… pushing a thousand feet wide? It's not a huge building."

"A facility of that size would have to be run by around fifty people." Donnie said, frowning.

"Plus whatever extra guards." Mariana said, humming. "I'd put it… huh, maybe a hundred or so. Can't be to sure. No more than two hundred though" She said honestly. Donnie agreed, taking the telescope and looking himself.

"No more than a hundred and fifty. Even if they are robots, they'd have to be packed to tight to accommodate more if there are hallways and cells."

"Believe me and Mikey now?"

"No… but you are the most accurate of us, so the chances of you missing are slim." Donnie admitted, looking a bit pained, and Mariana smiled a bit at him. The two traded a nod, and turned back to Leo and Raph who had been waiting for them to finish their discussion.

"Excellent, all you can beat buffet." Raph said, grinning as he spun his sais. Mariana flashed a grin at him.

"This will be fun," she cackled as Leo frowned at the two of them.

"We can't just run in there, we need a plan."

"Why?" Raph asked.

"Think you shell brain, there are innocent lives at stake." Donnie snapped. "If we screw this up, they're all goners."

"We won't screw up." Raph said.

"Boy, I sure could go for some of that pizza right now!" Mikey said, grinning. Mariana made a face and was about to comment, when she froze.

"Mikey… where is Snake?"

-0-

"This is utter-" a variety of curses exploded from Mariana as she glared at Donnie who was checking her ankle. After they found out Mikey had forgotten about Snake- earning a scolding from Mariana- they'd run off to chase after him. She went with Mikey and Donnie and had gotten tossed over a wall.

She'd landed funny and now her ankle was sprained.

"Look, I'm sorry, but you can't come with us." Donnie told her firmly. "With your ankle you can be a liability."

"_Your big head is a liability." _She muttered, and Donnie ignored her childish insult as he finished the wrapping. He handed her a crutch and she wobbled out of his lab, to find Mikey running away screaming as Raph chased him.

"Hey Mariana." Leo said, spotting her. "You okay?" he asked, eyeing her ankle.

"I'm fine Leo." She told him, firmly, before she went to sit on the couch, turning on the TV. She ignored her siblings until it was time for them to leave, and then she stood, hugging them tightly. They left, and she watched as they went.

She was a liability, she couldn't go with them.

While she waited for them, she practiced her violin, her room filling with the sound of Mozart, as she stared at the many model ships she had.

"My daughter." Splinter interrupted her after a while. "You should rest."

"How can I, when my family is out there, fighting for their lives?" she asked, turning to him, staring at him with large eyes.

"By doing what I do when you go up, by trusting in their abilities." Splinter told her, and she winced, looking down.

"…Okay, night father." She wished him goodnight, and put away her violin, before changing into her sleepwear.

She fell asleep worrying.

* * *

Mariana and Donnie are smart, but differently. Mariana is street smart and she's got past experiences fighting through buildings due to two gang fights and some large thefts she's done. Hence why they're playing off one another. And a bit more of their relationship is explored. I would do a full explanation, but I took down what I had on Tumblr because I decided it was to spoilery for right now.

The gun thing is something I added because I could. Mariana is smart enough to recognize people have guns, especially people like Snake, but she's not use to people carrying two. Yes, it is a cartoon, but the only person who uses two guns is Tiger Claw in the cartoon, so I'm saying his mutation helps him there.

I decided that Mariana wouldn't go with them on the finale part because it's more of their thing- here they really worked together as a team. Mariana is not part of their team, and thus she does not fight with them. She is also human compared to mutant. I've always believed that their bodies are way tougher than a humans, which is why she wears armour and such when sparring. So, compared to Mikey, she would sprain something after being tossed over a wall if she landed improperly, which she did because she was trying to avoid trashcans.

AND THANK GOD! I'm done this first part. Review please, I really like Reviews!


	6. Chapter 6

**Title: **Sister Dear

**Summery: **They were her family. She would not lose them, not like she lost her brother. She would protect them until her dying day, because that was what sisters did.

* * *

April wasn't sure what to make of her saviors- the giant turtle ninjas. She did know that they saved her, risking their lives in the process. Not many could claim they did that out of the goodness of their hearts. So, when she realized how lonely they were, she agreed to be their friend. Partly out of pity, and partly because of wonder for them. Giant talking turtles! How was this possible?

Her first time to their home- blindfolded of course- was interesting. She met their father, a giant rat, and their sister, the human she saw earlier the night when they tried to first save her and her father.

Mariana, as they introduced her, had a sprained ankle because of that night, and hadn't gone with them due to the potential liability she could be. April felt a spark of regret for that, and resolved to be nice to the girl, who regarded her with suspicion, but not to much.

Mariana herself didn't care much about April. Yes, she was glad her brothers could interact with someone their own age who wasn't her or each other, but she found April a little to law abiding for her to stomach. April's view was black and white, though she knew that being around them would slowly corrupt that view. Angel had been similar to April a bit the first time they met, and now she helped her with her pickpocketing.

The girls did get along, though Mariana did make comments about April's clothes that annoyed the redhead.

Of course, with April knowing, it meant Mariana started feeling a bit guilty about not telling Angel, something the purple haired girl picked up on.

"How come ah haven't met yer brothers yit?" Angel asked Mariana as the two idly walked through central park. Mariana had been pickpocketing as she went while Angel ran distraction for a while until they stopped to make sure the eyes were off them.

"What do you mean?" Mariana asked, lighting up a cigarette and pulling in deep. It had been two weeks since her brothers saved April, and she'd spent sometime in the sewers to heal her ankle.

"Ye mentioned thay were ootdoors, and ye saved someone, but ye haven't said ah can meet them."

"It's not my secret Angel." Mariana said, as she sat on a bench. She tugged on her blue turtleneck, making a face.

"It's yer own fault to wear that." Angel remarked, motioning to her own tank-top and board shorts.

"Oh, shut up." Mariana grumbled, as the two sat there. "…Angel, I will talk to my dad, but… I can't make promises."

"Yeah, ah guess ah get that." Angel said, sighing, before she check her watch. "Wur aboot to be late, let's go." Mariana nodded, and stood, taking one more drag before she dropped her cigarette and stubbed it out. The two girls headed out of the park, towards their meeting spot with the rest of their gang. The second in command after Jimmy had got caught by the police had called them up for some reason.

"Ah hope Tina is there." Angel said, smirking at Mariana, who rolled her eyes. The two girls got the meeting spot, to find that Tina was there.

Tina was a tall girl with black hair she wore short. Her clothes normally composed of leather jackets, white shirts, and jeans. Mariana and she had a bit of a history- Mariana never lost to the girl, who hated it, and often tried to beat her in any way possible in a fight. It was mostly annoying for Mariana who found that Tina never changed her fighting style- which was easy to beat if you watched for the clues.

"Angel." Said the girl nodding, before she glared at Mariana. "Mariana."

"Do ye know whit this is aboot?" Angel asked Tina, who gave a shrug.

"Eric didn't say, just said to… oh, my god." Tina wasn't looking at them anymore, instead she was focused on behind them. They turned to see Eric walking towards them, dressed in a black jacket and pants… with a Purple Dragon tattoo and with the Purple Dragons.

"Whit is going on?" Angel demanded, staring with her eyes wide. Mariana's hands clenched.

"Street fights aren't cutting it anymore girls." Eric told them, looking smug. "So, we decided that our best interests would be joining the Dragons." Tina blinked, and shrugged.

"Eh, whatever." Angel and Mariana though stared.

"…Ah… Ah… ah can't. It's one thing ta fight..." Angel said, worried, and Mariana blinked, realizing with a jolt Angel had never actually stolen anything- she just ran interference for Mariana when she needed it.

"I have standards." Mariana voiced. "I refuse to work with people who try to harass a blind man." She scowled at the Dragons who glared back. Mariana had never met Murakami, but she did make a point to scare off the lower ranking Dragons when they tried to get to him.

"Where else are you ladies going to go?" Eric asked, holding his arms out. "Jimmy's in for a drug charge, and you are all alone, five against two."

"…Ye set him up!" Angel shouted, eyes wide. Mariana's eyes were hard as she stared at Eric. Jimmy hated drugs, he refused to let them into the territory.

"Smart." Tina remarked, smirking. "Oh come on you two." She told the other girls. "This will help us get stronger."

"I already have my father for that." Mariana said, reaching under her skirt and yanking out her two kamas, flicking the blades out. Angel herself reached under her shirt to pull out a pistol, holding it towards them. "Let us leave." Eric scowled at the two, as the Dragons behind him shifted. Tina made a move, but Eric shook his head.

"Let's not bother- they're just two girls. You can keep the territory- for as long as you can." He smirked and left, dragging Tina along, who glared at the others.

"…What are we going ta do?" Angel asked, lowering her gun. It only had blanks in it, but it was still a good threat if needed.

"I don't know." Mariana answered softly.

-0-

Mariana sighed, as she dropped onto the couch in the lair, staring at the celing. Leo blinked, and turned to look at her from where he'd been watching Space Heroes.

"…Not going to watch with me?" he asked curiously, knowing Mariana tended to watch with him almost all the time. She answered by lifting a hand and shaking it.

"No. I'm too busy thinking." She let her hand drop, and continue to stare at the ceiling. Leo blinked, but went back to the TV. Once his show was over, Mariana still hadn't moved, so he cautiously stood and went over to check on her.

"…You look angry." She rolled her eyes.

"Look, Leo, I'm just having a bad day, I'm fine." She got off the couch and went to her room, removing her weapons and getting out some glue and her new model. She needed to keep her hands busy and focus on something.

Her model was a huge pirate ship she'd saved a month for, with all the riggings and sails. She'd seen it and fallen in love, stealing twice as much to save up. As she worked, she thought about her situation.

Mariana and Angel were only two people, and Angel would never actually try to kill anyone, hence why her gun threat was useless to those who knew her well enough. So, if it was a fight, it would be a hard one. They were outnumbered, and outgunned. Mariana seriously didn't know what to do.

"What troubles you my daughter?" Splinter asked, making her jerk, though she didn't break her model.

"You need a bell." She said, turning to him. He rolled his eyes, and she shook her head. "It's just some stuff with the gang."

"Such as?" Splinter asked. Mariana turned to stare at the model, before her shoulders slumped.

"Eric sold Jimmy out- planted drugs or something on him. Turns out the reason why was to combine with the Purple Dragons." She clenched her fists angrily. "_Stupid little…" _she trailed off into curses Splinter pinched her ear for, but otherwise ignored.

"I am not fully sure what the Purple Dragons are, my daughter." Splinter admitted. Mariana tended to keep quiet about gang life, due to her worry that Splinter would not want a gang member in his home.

"Purple Dragons are one of the biggest gangs- though the newbies are morons. There are three of them that run around, messing stuff up. None of them are intelligent enough to screw in a lightbulb, but it's the other's I'm worried about. Most of them are killers, and while I doubt they'll bother with sending those in, given our territory is only like two blocks and we tend to just run minor scams and street fights, I'm… I don't know." Mariana shook her head. "We protect the people on our streets yeah, and if we don't… I don't know."

"So you are worried for the people under your care?" Splinter asked.

"Yeah! We protect them from the other gangs!" Mariana said, turning to stare at him. "I doubt it will come down to a gang war- but a fight would destroy some of the neighbourhood. I'm terrified dad!" she looked at Splinter, eyes wide as she breathed in.

"When I first fought the Shredder I was terrified as well. He… he was my brother." Splinter said, looking down. "But he had changed and was not the man I remembered, and I was terrified for the people under my care. The Hamato clan had people under them who needed our protections, and if we lost…"

"What did you do?"

"I spoke to my fellow fighters. I spoke to my father. I forced my fear down, and knew I had to fight against it to win." Splinter said to Mariana. "Do not let fear control you my daughter. Instead let it make you stronger."

"…I need to call Angel." Mariana said, standing up and putting the glue cap back on. "Thank you." She gave him a quick hug before she took off, pulling her phone out.

"Angel, we need more members, and we need you to have a real gun."

-0-

"Ah don't ken whaur we'll fin' another member." Sighed Angel, her accent a little thicker then normal.

"Don't you have any friends at school who can fight?" Mariana asked as she followed her friend up the stairs to Angel's apartment.

"Nope. Aadila is a pacifist," Angel said, shaking her head. "Ah don't ken anyone else."

"Well that's a lie." A voice above them said, making the girls jump and look up. A tall boy dressed a tie and button up shirt with black slacks look down at them. His skin was dark, and his eyes were a warm brown. His black hair was tied back into a low ponytail. "Angel, nice to see you."

"Ben." Angel returned, frowning. The boy nodded, and turned to Mariana.

"Hello, I'm Ben." He said, and then he smiled. "And I can help." He motioned them up and the girls followed, Mariana deciding to trust Angel's judgment in the fact Ben wouldn't hurt them. He took them to his apartment, and opened it.

"…Ah thought ye were Native." Angel said, blinking as she studied the Japanese décor.

"My mother is- I inherited her looks." Ben said. "My father is Japanese- he works late hence why you've never met him." The girls removed their shoes, and followed him to a small room set up as a dojo. "I know kendo, and I'm pretty fast on my feet." He grabbed a bokkun, and smiled at them. "Do you need to test me?" Mariana smiled, and drew out her kamas, not using the blades.

The fight was short, but intense. Ben knew his stuff, his sword moving to counteract each strike, but Mariana was trickier, and would try to strike at two different areas. Angel watched with wide eyes as the two fought against one another, the fight ending with Mariana holding her Kama against Ben's throat.

"…I think you'll do well."

"Are ye sure?" Angel asked after they left Ben's apartment, and went up to hers, Ben told to wait with Angel after school the next day. "Ah… ah don't hate 'im, but ah don't ken 'im."

"He's a good fighter, and we need that. We'll worry about the other stuff later." Mariana said, as they entered Angel's apartment- both parents gone for the day it seemed. "Now, we need to get you a real gun."

"Ah… ah don't want te." Angel admitted. "Ah don't want ta kill."

"You won't. Aim for non-vital areas." Mariana said.

"Ah can still kill someone!" Angel said angrily. She shook as she stood there.

"Then use your fists. Angel, if we don't do this, who knows what they'll do to the people we're supposed to protect."

"…It was only meant te be fun. A way te git away." Whispered Angel. "Ah never…" she shook her head, and looked up. "David has a gun ah can use." The two girls looked at one another. "We need a leader."

"You're the obvi-" Angel rolled her eyes.

"Ah ain't a leader. Ah can't call the hard shots- ye can." Mariana looked at Angel, who stared right back.

"Alright." Mariana sighed, before she went with Angel to look at Angel's stepfathers guns. It was time to be serious.

After picking the gun out, the two hashed out more plans, relocating to her bedroom when Angel's stepfather and mother came home. David and Marcy were very nice people but they did look down on Mariana a bit, for not going to school. Angel often got embarrassed by their reactions. Mariana stayed there late, esaping through the window once they were done, so she could speak with her father.

"You look like a bloated buffalo!" cried a voice, and Mariana raised an eyebrow, looking at the dojo once she entered the lair.

That was new. She headed over to find her brothers trained, Raphael being hit by arrows with suction cups, and the others laughing as they taunted him. Mariana leaned against the doorway, watching as Raph glared at his brothers.

"This is stupid!" He cried out, glaring.

"Ugh it didn't." Mikey whined as Raph turned to Splinter, who was frowning.

"Niconinsation is the ability to endure insults with patience and humility," Splinter told his son firmly. "You cannot be a true ninja until you master it." Mariana blinked, realizing it must have been a thing about Raph's temper- but who would insult him? "Understood?" Splinter asked, and Raph sighed.

"Hai sensei." He muttered.

"You must get that video back, using reason, not force." Splinter told Raph, though he also addressed all of his children. Mariana stepped forward.

"Video?"

"Mariana!" Mikey cheered, turning to smile at his sister. "Raph got into a fight with this guy, and then the Kraang appeared, and then the guy took a video of us!"

"…Where was this?"

"About six blocks away from the usual way up to the surface." Donnie said, and Mariana frowned.

"Chubby guy, wearing a tank-top, gross looking?" she asked, cueing nods. "Ugh, him." She made a face.

"You know him?" Leo asked his sister, who waved a hand to convey her 'kind of'.

"Sort of? I know of him- he's a bit of a loud mouth. And he tends to catcall the girls." She shrugged. "Don't know if reason will work with him, but you can try." She told them honestly.

"Anyone can be reasoned with." Splinter stated firmly.

"I can think of some who can't be. Tina for one." Mariana said, walking up to her father. "Which reminds me- Angel and I will be busy for the next while."

"You have found a solution to your troubles?" Splinter asked his daughter, singling her brother to leave. Mariana nodded, the two kneeling beneath the tree.

"Yeah- we're making a gang for ourselves, got a recruit and everything. A guy named Ben, our age, who's dad teaches kendo." She told her father, who nodded. He continued to watch his daughter, who idly played with her hands for a few minutes before she spoke again. "Angel says I should be leader of the group."

"You would be a good leader, my daughter." Splinter told her.

"What? No! I'm going to make a horrible leader- I'm brash, hard headed-" Mariana began, but Splinter interrupted.

"Yes, and you are kind. You are smart, and can make plans. You practice patience every day when you build models." Splinter reached out and placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder. "You may not wish to lead, but you will be truly great at it."

"…If you say so." Mariana sighed. "I think this is going to crash and burn, but I can try."

"Try? There is no try, there is only do or do not."

"…Dad, please stop quoting Yoda? I seriously can never watch Star Wars anymore without hearing you." Splinter just laughed as Mariana huffed playfully.

* * *

Angel's accent is hard- there's a translator I use for slang/accent but Angel's lived in America for a while, so it's less likely for her to talk with a full accent, but she was a little to old to fully loose it.

If anyone is interested, I see Angel as being voiced by Kelly McDonald who played Merida in Brave. I also see Mariana as being voiced by Tara Strong (like Raven's voice) except when she's ranting in Portuguese. I haven't found her voice for her then yet.

And we meet Ben! And a mention of Aadila, who will appear later- she isn't scripted for a full main character position until the beginning of season two at the earliest, but I like her, so here we are! She'll appear here and there. She's Angel' BFF in school, and like I said, a pacifist.

Purple Dragons- I'm saying the few we see are just a bunch of idiots they put up with. The dangerous ones work elsewhere.

Review please!


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